Donald Fine, 75, Publisher Of Suspenseful Best Sellers

By DINITIA SMITH

Published: August 16, 1997

Donald I. Fine, a publisher who was known for nurturing the careers of such best-selling authors as Ken Follett, Andrew Vachss and Elmore Leonard, died on Thursday at his home in Manhattan. He was 75.

The cause was cancer, said his son, Stephen.

In an era when publishing companies are rapidly being bought up by conglomerates, Mr. Fine was, for much of his career, an independent publisher. He was known for his hands-on attention to authors, for keeping a tight rein on expenses and for his colorful, occasionally abrupt manner.

He was born in Ann Arbor, Mich., where his father was a chemist for Post Cereals. He attended the Cranbrook Preparatory School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and Harvard University. During World War II, he served in Army intelligence as a decoder.

After the war, Mr. Fine worked at the Scott Meredith Literary Agency and then became the managing editor of the Western Printing and Lithographing Company. He was one of the founders of Dell First Editions, an early paperback imprint, publishing books by Morris West, John MacDonald and Kurt Vonnegut. From 1958 to 1960, he was vice president of the Dell Publishing Company, editor in chief of Dell Books and one of the founders of the Delacorte Press. Mr. Fine was also one of the first figures in publishing to introduce the notion of the ''hard-soft deal,'' in which publishers purchased the rights to both the hardcover and paperback editions of a book.

In 1969, Mr. Fine borrowed $5,000 from a Harvard classmate and founded his own publishing company, Arbor House. While at Arbor House, he was approached by an agent for a Mr. Follett, then an unknown Welsh author who had written a thriller about a German spy during World War II. Mr. Follett's agent was seeking a big advance for the manuscript. Mr. Fine agreed to the advance and asked for revisions, and in 1978 ''Eye of the Needle,'' the first of a series of big-selling books by Mr. Follett, was published.

In 1978, Arbor House was bought by the Hearst Corporation for $1.5 million. ''O.K., now get out of my office,'' Mr. Fine was reported to have told the representatives of Hearst as soon as the sales contract was signed. He remained as president of the company and published Mr. Leonard's ''Stick'' and ''La Brava,'' which became best sellers.

Mr. Fine and Hearst parted company in 1983. He founded Donald I. Fine Inc., and went on to publish Mr. Vachss's ''Flood'' and Philip Friedman's ''Grand Jury'' and ''Inadmissible Evidence.''

Two years ago, Donald I. Fine Inc. was purchased by Penguin, and Mr. Fine moved to Penguin's offices on Hudson Street in Manhattan, where he recently published books by Bruce Jay Friedman, Rona Jaffee and William Peter Blatty.

Mr. Fine was married to Diana Northam. They divorced in 1968, and Ms. Northam died in 1994. In addition to his son, of Los Angeles, he is survived by a grandson.